1. Technical Field
This invention relates to kitchen utensils and particularly relates to devices that may be employed as pastry blenders or as mashers for cooked fruit and vegetables.
2. Background Information
Typically, there have been different tools or kitchen utensils that have been provided in the past for the purposes of a pastry blender, o, as it is sometimes known, a pastry cutter, and as a masher for cooked fruits and vegetables. The general purposes and uses of utensils for differing purposes, as described above, are indeed different, but it has been unexpectedly discovered that by the provision of the novel utensil which comprises, in particular, a substantially planar base portion, the purposes for pastry blending as well as for mashing cooked fruits and vegetables can be satisfied with the provision of a single too, or at least a tool which comprises the principal features of the present invention.
Moreover, it has been unexpectedly discovered that a substantially planar base portion of the utensil of the present invention, especially when used as a pastry blender, gives superior results to even one which has slight curvature of the base portion, as illustrated in the parent application.
As will be discussed hereafter, typically pastry blenders or pastry cutters have a horizontally disposed handle, whereas mashers for cooked fruits and vegetables typically have a vertically disposed handle.
In any event, pastry blenders and cooked fruit and vegetable mashers in keeping with the present invention are particularly characterized by or distinguished by the fact that the structure is rigid, with a substantially planar base portion which has a pair of spaced apart edge frame members with a plurality of cutter wire members extending between them in substantially parallel relation one to another and rigidly secured between the edge frame members.
The principal purposes for which the present invention was developed were as a pastry blender or pastry cutter. However, upon noting the effectiveness with which pastry recipes may be assembled with excellent results, in the manner discussed hereafter, it was noted that cooked fruit and vegetables could be mashed using the same or similar device with excellent results as well.
Dietary habits, particularly in the North American and European public, have varied over the years. It is now much more common to request and expect mashed fruits and vegetables, such as apple sauce, mashed potatoes, turnips or carrots, to be served in a so-called textured manner as opposed to being served in an essentially pureed manner. That is, there may be small lumps or particulate and distinguishable portions of the fruit or vegetable being served along with a much finer fruit or vegetable, where the fruit or vegetable is not said to be lumpy but is acceptable and desired as a textured food.
Typically, when cooked fruits and vegetables are to be mashed, it is a simple matter of a continued vertical cutting action of a masher as it passes down through the food product, with continuous reduction of the size of the particles. Most mashers have wide horizontally disposed blades, and the consequence of their action against the cooked fruit product is to essentially pulverize that food product so as to mash or puree the same. A typical shortcoming of all such vegetable mashers is, however, that the upward motion tends to collect considerable quantities of the fruit or vegetable being mashed, so that it must be discharged from the masher by tapping the tool against the edge of the bowl or saucepan, or otherwise dislodging the food by using the finger or a spoon.
Moreover, in the art of making pastry, considerably more skill and dexterity is required. Many unskilled persons, who attempt to make pastry as pie crust or even tea biscuit batter and the like, tend to overwork the pastry, which results in a tough pastry that neither rises nor is flaky.
The three principal ingredients of pastry are fat such as butter, shortening, lard, or mixtures thereof, together with flour and liquid such as milk or water. It is well known that the best pastry is made using cold ingredients, that is, the shortening, butter or lard should be removed directly from the refrigerator just prior to making the pastry. However, when that occurs, then obviously the fat component is hard and typically must be diced or cubed prior to being worked into the flour, such as by cutting it with a knife. Even that process results in an uneven and tough pastry.
Many pastry blenders have been brought to the market over the years, as described hereafter, but they all suffer from one or more of the following shortcomings: they are ineffective at cutting hard fat, they have insufficient structural strength and rigidity, so that they change their shape; clumped pastry tends to collect on the upper side of the tines or blades of the pastry blender and must continually be dislodged; and an uneven or irregular cutting and blending effect will occur.
A skilled pastry chef will, when blending pastry, press downwardly and at the same time rotate the utensil that he or she is using so as to ensure that the blending effect of the fat components and the flour occurs. The pastry chef does not want the fat component to be broken down into particles that are too small, because the flakiness of the pastry will be adversely affected. At the same time, the pastry chef does not want to overwork the flour so as to unduly stretch the gluten in the flour, resulting in a tough pastry. Thus, several considerations in the design of a pastry blender are that it must be rigid and capable of a torque action placed upon it as it is twisted in the mix of fat and flour—typically, the liquid component is not added at the beginning of the pastry blending process—because especially at the beginning of the process there can be considerable resistance by the hard fat against the pastry blender tool.
Another issue that arises is that with prior art pastry blenders an uneven cutting and blending action occurs. This is a particular consequence of the downwardly curved configuration of most pastry blenders, where a greater cutting force and action occurs at the center of the blender and very little cutting action against the fat occurs at the edges of the pastry blender. Moreover, the very shape of such pastry blenders results in an unwanted build up of fat component on the tines or wires of the pastry blender, which continually have to be dislodged.
The lack of rigidity of most pastry blenders, and their inability to withstand significant forces either downwardly or in torque, also results in uneven cutting and blending actions. Moreover, the shape of the bowl in which pastry is to be blended, or the bowl or saucepan in which a cooked fruit or vegetable is to be mashed, is essentially immaterial. Bowls and saucepans typically have curved sides or they may have straight sides, with a flat bottom or at least a portion of the bottom being flat. Nonetheless, kitchen utensils in keeping with the present invention effectively serve their purpose in any bowl or saucepan.